Unexpected
by Aria Iulia Arlington
Summary: Companion to BELIEF. EragonMurtagh. What if Murtagh never wanted the trust of the Varden, but that of Eragon? What if he had been with Eragon in Ellesmera, for a bit? What if Murtagh wanted to fight for the king so swore himself COMPLETE SUMMARY INSIDE


**Mind Speech**

_**Thoughts**_

"Normal speech"

**_Summary:_ Companion to BELIEF. **What if Murtagh never wanted the trust of the Varden, but that of Eragon? What if he had been with Eragon from Brom's death to a little before Eragon gave his answer to Arya, when he was kidnapped in Ellesmera? What if Murtagh wanted to fight for the king and so swore his allegiance to him? Why would he do that? The battle of the Burning Plains never happened. Why?

* * *

**_The Varden were coming_** was the only thing crossing the mind of the man dressed in all black as he tried to regain control of the king's army, by the fourth time. **_Someone had poisoned the food and/or water supply_**. It was the only explanation. His lieutenants were trying to help him, but he recognized a lost battle when he saw one, and apparently, they did so too.

"My lord, there is nothing we can do. They are coming and we won't be ready" Flavian stated fatalistically. **_Always the drama queen_** he thought in slight amusement.

"Stop it, Flavian. Don't you see he is thinking? Stop interrupting." rebuked Magdal, the youngest one… the one from his own lands.

"Hey, child, no need to worry… with a father like his, he will do something anyway, one way or another" he said cuttingly. Magdal glared daggers at the man, clearly ready to defend the one he was very proud to serve.

"Silence" muttered the black clad man and both fell into silence. "Start the retreat now" he continued "we cannot fight with our own army turning against us." seeing Orian, the oldest open his mouth, obviously to say they couldn't manage to evacuate the whole army, he continued "I will hold them, when they arrive. According to my spies, it will be easy" he said stressing the easy as if he found the word completely inapplicable for the situation. "Tiring, but easy."

"Are these spies of yours reliable, my lord?" asked the fourth, Tagal. **_The paranoid one_**, almost as much as him, and that was saying something.

He managed to snort elegantly and assured their loyalty to him, their mindless loyalty to him, making Magdal snort and laugh, Tagal smile and the other two look confused. After all, they were not from his lands, so, how could they hope to understand an internal joke?

They left immediately to follow his orders, but he ignored them in favor of searching for the one that would accompany him.

**Come, Thorn. Some action for us.**

**How so?** came the thunderous answer in mind speech.

**The Varden approach and our army is retreating. We have to hold them on the other side of the field… Well, duty calls** he offered amusedly and the other seemed to share said emotion

**I'm coming, but you better be quick; their army is closer than you'd think acceptable** he advised; the other one could feel he was pretty closer.

**Our army won't be quick enough, we'll have to cover them** he informed,

**Do you still want to do that?** the other on his mind inquired stressing the last word. Silence was his answer for some moments and then

**Yes, he deserves to know**,

**He might not understand** the other cautioned.

**No matter… he needs to know** he insisted,

**It doesn't matter to me. I'm worried about… you** and he didn't need to say more. Thorn was worried his brother reaction to what he had to say would hurt him. **_A valid worry_**, he confessed to himself. His brother normally reacted before he thought things through.

**I can take it** he affirmed, obviously trying to convince himself more than his only real friend. The others with some rare exceptions were easily put on the categories allies, enemies, acquaintances or on the still not sorted one.

**Will you inform him of everything?** his friend asked and he understood. Briefly, he wondered what his brother reaction would be to the whole truth, but the image was… frightening, to say the least and he rejected the idea immediately, out of self-preservation.

**He is not ready for that. A half-truth will do.**

**Half-truth?** inquired the other on in a mix of wariness and amusement,

**Yes. A half-truth by omission. I won't lie, Thorn. You know it's against my nature** he stated before ending the conversation.

The truth was: he loved Thorn and his company, but he missed his brother companionship now, more than ever. Thoughts of his younger brother were confusing… he wasn't sure what he felt, what to expect, what to say, but he was sure he didn't feel what he should be feeling or expect what he should be expecting and he was afraid he would say something wrong. He left his cave, on top of a mountain, after reading himself for a thoroughly taxing work of magic and swore as soon as he looked down. They had arrived. Twenty minutes and they would reach his army. His anxiety must have been a lot, because two seconds later, Thorn offered

**I'm already on the field. The little one said more than half of the army has left, the injured with them, but the ones under the drug are being killed on the spot, now, after the boy managed to convince the oldest you'd approve the action. Do you have energy enough for a shield of this magnitude?** he asked worriedly. Hazel eyes analyzed his army and the enemy's one and after a minute of deliberation between need and pride, he offered:

**With your help, yes**,

**Will you take much longer? **

**No, I'm already at the base of the mountain** he stated appearing on his friend line of vision.

He approached the army and saw two of his lieutenants

"Orian! Magdal! How much time do you need?" he questioned

"Half an hour in the least, my lord" the younger one replied nervously, while the duke and Orian looked around to access the situation. Both nodded in agreement.

"They will be here in a bit more than ten minutes. Try to make it sooner. Sound the horn only when they got all on the field, follow your line of vision. I have to prepare a barrier and won't be able to help until I've amassed enough energy, so I need concentration" he stated "Do not worry, I'll hold them until you've left" he offered, seeing the worry on the youth blue eyes. **_So much like… _**he broke that line of thought, when the younger man nodded and turned to carry on with his work. So much trust in him… Magdal clearly trusted in him more than he himself did. **_Just like… him_**. His little brother trusted in him so much… although he couldn't help but acknowledge that this trust could be shaken or even, gods forbid, ended today.

He walked over to where Thorn was and positioned himself. In seconds he could feel the air on his face. He was flying. Blocking any and all thoughts from his mind, he focused on gathering his energy for a barrier of this magnitude: … a lot of energy. Some moments later, out of nowhere, a horn sounded; one he knew too well, but still wasn't what he was expecting. It was loud enough to hurt his ears, but not powerful. Two or three minutes later, another horn sounded… this was his cue. The sad, mournful sound seemed to feed his magic. It was a deep, resounding, and gut wrenching sound. The horn he chose for his army. He raised his right arm, his eyes still closed and started to pool energy, magic on his hand. He knew both armies were observing the proceedings with rapt attention and began feeling giddy, after all, The Du Vrangr Gata's leader was watching… that was an honor.

**Now** he heard Thorn and released the magic with a resounding voice, he uttered the spell and a see through blue wall appeared out of nowhere between him and the Varden and his retreating army.

Now, he had only Thorn and himself to worry about… and him. They only had to wait.


End file.
